The first thing you notice about the all-new Jeep Liberty is the attitude. Bigger and tougher-looking, the 2008 Liberty has a more commanding presence (yes, it does remind you of the Jeep Commander…) compared with the first-generation model.

This is partly due to the Liberty now being built at the same Toledo plant as the Dodge Nitro, where not surprisingly the two models rolling down the line are different versions of the same fundamental vehicle. Underneath, however, the Jeep has the goods to get the brand's "Trail Rated" designation, which means you can take it into some fairly severe off-road territory, and make it out again. Two four-wheel drive systems - Command-Trac II part time and Selec-Trac II full-time - are available (no rear-wheel drive in Canada). All Jeep Liberty models have a low range.

Nothing says cost-cutting construction quite like hard, cheap plastic– and this sucker brought a megaphone. The Liberty’s dash could be scrubbed with a wire brush without offense. On the plus side, Liberty soldiers on with an excellent sound system, the window controls are back where God intended (on the doors) and sun and wind worshipers will love the [optional] Sky Slider Roof.

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This stiff-legged problem has been well and truly sorted. The new Liberty’s independent front suspension (upper and lower “A” arms, coil springs, low-pressure gas shocks, stabilizer bar) and five-link rear (live axle, upper and lower trailing arms, track bar, coil springs, stabilizer bar, low-pressure gas shocks) make it float over broken surfaces with all the aplomb of Luke Skywalker’s speeder. If you’re looking for a Jeep that feels nothing like a Jeep, this is the non-Jeep Jeep to have. And yet…

Jeep's engineers sacrificed driver control. The Liberty’s over-boosted rack and pinion steering lacks any on-center feel; it tracks back and forth on the highway like an OCD bloodhound. You’d have to pay a professional boxer millions to take the kind of dive the Liberty executes when you stomp on the brakes. And any abrupt handling maneuver is followed by rebounding tremors. The Liberty’s sloppy handling dynamics are only bested (or should I say worsted) by the dreadful Chevy Trailblazer.